The Colonial Judiciary And County Government - Colonies To Colossus (#19)

This is the nineteenth in a series of podcasts about Colonial American History. This podcasts focuses on the colonial court system and county government in the colonies.

[@endoranaiad8252]

No public urination....I lol'd

[@TonyqTNT]

I'm trying to understand the concept of a justice of the peace?
Was each justice of the peace a judge or magistrate? Were the justices of the peace each a member of the Governor's Council? Could a justice of the peace also be a law enforcer like a marshall or sheriff? For example, Colonial New York, under British rule, did each county in New York have their own courts and justices?
Just a quick example of a real or hypothetical law case would be helpful to understand further the Colonial Courts and judiciary!!!

[@ronmiddlebrook8431]

Great questions. Justices of the peace were often all of the things you describe. In England the justice of the peace came to replace the sheriff as the most important county official probably in the 1500-1600s. Much of how they functioned in England came over to the colonies. Each colony had slight variations from the others. South Carolina had very few counties for most of its existence and so had very few of the usual local officers which resulted in the Regulator Movement and rebellion. Typically, each county had a justice of the peace and other justices met with him at quarter sessions of court to hear more serious case. Even though each colony imitated England, beyond this generality I would not venture a more precise guess since each colony had its own differences. If you're interested I would recommend three books that offer a lot of good information about justices of the peace in England (and since the colonies carefully imitated England, this information would apply to the justices of the peace in England's North American colonies.):
'Constitutional History Of England' by George Burton Adams;
'The Constitutional History of Modern Britain Since 1485' by Sir David Lindsay Keir; and
'A Constitutional And Legal History Of Medieval England' by Bryce Lyon.

[@TonyqTNT]

Thanks, Ron! I'm looking forward to reading 📚 A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🇬🇧!!!